Top positive review

5.0 out of 5 starsKeys been activated prior, possibly exposed by keygen. Mine is legal.

22 April 2018

I've just built a PC for video editing, for my son to use for games and for possible future VR.Once it was sufficiently assembled I installed Windows 10 Home from DVD (Microsoft download) to test with. I then checked various ways to buy - I saw that on the Microsoft sites UK is 120 pounds and US is 120 dollars so basically UK get ripped off again.In a store closing down clearance they had it priced for 60 pounds, but when I contacted those listing stock, they found it was OOS.Checking online, this seller on Amazon also listed it as 60 pounds new so it was ordered and arrived when predicted. The package was factory sealed so I didn't expect any problem but when I entered the key from the card within, Microsoft stated that key had already been activated.I checked the tells for a fake that Microsoft website describes and this one passed as genuine....I found a walkthrough online which led me to an automated activation by phoning Microsoft. 8 minutes later (several groups of digits typed into the phone from the PC screen, followed by several groups of digits typed into the PC as heard on the phone) and this PC had Windows activated.Now I know I have possession of a card with an activation key that should never have been seen before I opened the package, so if it's used by someone else and causes mine to cease I'll just reactivate it until that fails, then have stern words with Microsoft!

Top critical review

1.0 out of 5 starsThis is apparently not a Retail (FPP) version of Windows

26 August 2018

I very rarely write reviews, but I feel it is worth warning future customers.

Windows is typically sold in this format with a "Retail" product key. Products such as boot CDs and USBs (like this one) intended for general consumers, should exclusively be Retail product keys.

However, after installing, my product key appears to be an OEM "Original Equipment Manufacturer" key. These types of keys are intended to be used by wholesalers (such as Dell and HP) who include them in the PCs they sell. This is not a problem, as such, as I can still use windows. However this does mean that in the future I will be unable to transfer windows.

This is quite disappointing as my intention was to always transfer the key - and this is typically feasible with a retail copy.

Reading other reviewers it appears I am not the only who has encountered this problem, and some people have had keys that were not genuine altogether (had already been activated). To me this is quite surprising as the product comes packed and sealed.

Putting this all together I suspect that the retailer (which seem to change every week) are possibly tampering with retail copies from microsoft and are switching out the activation key cards - with OEM cards or even used keys.

All in all, this is very shady, and had I not been in a rush for a copy I would've done more homework on the source of this product. I would recommend you save yourself a headache and either buy a cheap OEM or pay full price for a retail version at least you know what you're getting!

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I very rarely write reviews, but I feel it is worth warning future customers.

Windows is typically sold in this format with a "Retail" product key. Products such as boot CDs and USBs (like this one) intended for general consumers, should exclusively be Retail product keys.

However, after installing, my product key appears to be an OEM "Original Equipment Manufacturer" key. These types of keys are intended to be used by wholesalers (such as Dell and HP) who include them in the PCs they sell. This is not a problem, as such, as I can still use windows. However this does mean that in the future I will be unable to transfer windows.

This is quite disappointing as my intention was to always transfer the key - and this is typically feasible with a retail copy.

Reading other reviewers it appears I am not the only who has encountered this problem, and some people have had keys that were not genuine altogether (had already been activated). To me this is quite surprising as the product comes packed and sealed.

Putting this all together I suspect that the retailer (which seem to change every week) are possibly tampering with retail copies from microsoft and are switching out the activation key cards - with OEM cards or even used keys.

All in all, this is very shady, and had I not been in a rush for a copy I would've done more homework on the source of this product. I would recommend you save yourself a headache and either buy a cheap OEM or pay full price for a retail version at least you know what you're getting!

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USB installation worked great, but the product key was invalid "already in use". Was relatively straightforward but irritating to get microsoft to resolve the situation - made a phone call to the provided number, got forwarded to a foreign customer service office and had to provide a 63-digit serial code over the phone.

It seems like this is a common problem here, so buy direct from microsoft if you can.

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I have been building my PC today and the final part of the puzzle is Windows 10. So to get this far, install from the usb supplied and discover that Microsoft will not validate the license is a complete pain.

The license key supplied with the USB will work to get you to install the software initially. However, it will not allow you to activate the software with Microsoft once its installed.

So DO NOT buy a copy of Windows if this order is being fulfilled by SEVASTOPOULOS LTD. Its a waste of time, effort and most importantly of all your money.

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I paid £75 for a brand new copy of Windows 10 Home and the product key simply does not work. I’ve entered the key numerous times and have had multiple error messages. The first one being that the key is already in use on another machine. That error has now changed to “we can’t activate windows on this device because you don’t have a valid digital licence or product key”

Basically the product key does not work and now i’m stuck with a defunct product. Thanks SEVASTOPOULOS LTD!

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I've just built a PC for video editing, for my son to use for games and for possible future VR.Once it was sufficiently assembled I installed Windows 10 Home from DVD (Microsoft download) to test with. I then checked various ways to buy - I saw that on the Microsoft sites UK is 120 pounds and US is 120 dollars so basically UK get ripped off again.In a store closing down clearance they had it priced for 60 pounds, but when I contacted those listing stock, they found it was OOS.Checking online, this seller on Amazon also listed it as 60 pounds new so it was ordered and arrived when predicted. The package was factory sealed so I didn't expect any problem but when I entered the key from the card within, Microsoft stated that key had already been activated.I checked the tells for a fake that Microsoft website describes and this one passed as genuine....I found a walkthrough online which led me to an automated activation by phoning Microsoft. 8 minutes later (several groups of digits typed into the phone from the PC screen, followed by several groups of digits typed into the PC as heard on the phone) and this PC had Windows activated.Now I know I have possession of a card with an activation key that should never have been seen before I opened the package, so if it's used by someone else and causes mine to cease I'll just reactivate it until that fails, then have stern words with Microsoft!

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It seems that the Windows 10 stick we have got does not seem to install properly. We thought at first that this is the hard disk issue and we invested in a brand new disk but it still has the same problem! From our point of view total waste of money!

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Arrived boxed and installed fine. However, 24 hours after installation Windows rejected the product key. Spoke with MS Customer Service who confirmed that the code had been used 5 times previously so was therefore invalid.